Kumar joins the Cullen faculty from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, where he had a dual appointment as an associate professor in the Biomedical Engineering Department, and the Chemical and Materials Engineering Department. He has more than 65 paper credits, as well as three patents and eight patents in adjudication. His dentistry research on “Angiogenic and anti-microbial supports for pulp regeneration” has received about $2 million in funding.

Phatak is a distinguished graduate of Cullen, earning her Ph.D. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from the college. She has been a lecturer at the college since 2022.

Wang comes to Cullen from the University of Pittsburgh, where he was an assistant professor for five years. He earned his doctorate from the University of California, Los Angeles. In 2025, he earned an NSF CAREER award for his proposal, “Advancing Biodegradation Through Protein Nanocompartment-Based Cargo Encapsulation for Organic Contaminant Removal.”

Before Cullen, Smith was a postdoctoral researcher for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He earned his doctorate from North Carolina State University. He is a member of the Microscopy Society of America, the Microanalysis Society and the Materials Research Society.

Kumar has served as a lecturer, adjunct professor and editor at Cranfield University in the United Kingdom for the past eight years. His research expertise is in the development of low cost, energy efficient and sustainable bioprocesses for the production of biofertilizers, biopesticides, biofuels and biochemicals.

Mim earned his doctorate in Hospitality and Retail Management from Texas Tech University. He is the 2024 winner of the Joan M. Laughlin Fellowship Outstanding Continuing Doctoral Student Award from the International Textile and Apparel Association.

Mudd has been a lecturer at the University of Houston since 2019, after earning his M.S. in Global Retailing from the school. He earned his doctorate from Iowa State University. He holds professional affiliation with National Retail Federation, the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, the International Textile and Apparel Association, and Lambda NextGen Houston / Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce.

Govindu first joined UH as a lecturer for the Fall 2024 semester. Prior to UH, she worked in various roles for eight years at NRG Energy. She earned her doctorate in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Mississippi State University.

Jiang comes to Cullen after conducting postdoctoral research at Cornell and Lehigh universities. He earned his doctorate from the University of California, Los Angeles. He has five authorship credits already, and he has served as a journal reviewer for several IEEE publications.

Aly joins Cullen after earning her doctorate in computer science from Clemson University. She is an active member of the Association for Computing Machinery, serving as associate chair for several of its meetings.

Luo moves to Cullen after serving as an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at Virginia Commonwealth University. The holder of two patents, he is currently lead or co-PI on 15 research grants with $1.6 million in funding attached. Lao is an associate editor of the IEEE Internet of Things Journal.

Chen makes his way to Cullen from the University of Kentucky, where he was an assistant professor in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department. He also completed postdoctoral research at Texas A&M, which is where he earned his doctorate.

Nassar comes to Cullen from the University of Missouri, where he was an assistant professor. He was named an American Society of Mechanical Engineers Rising Star in 2024, and he earned an NSF CAREER award for his research in 2021.